1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to the field of electrical connectors. And more particularly, one embodiment of the present invention relates to a card edge connector having heat-dissipating mechanism for establishing stable electrical connection between a daughter circuit board and a mother circuit board.
2. General Background
Card edge connectors are widely used in various computer systems for forming electrical connection between a daughter circuit board and a mother circuit board. A card edge connector basically includes an elongated insulative housing defining a central slot for receiving a daughter circuit board therein and a number of conductive terminals set along the central slot. Each conductive terminal includes a contacting portion projecting to the central slot and a mounting portion to be connected to the mother circuit board. In use, the daughter circuit board is inserted into the central slot, with a mating edge thereof in mechanical and electrical engagement with the contacting portion of the conductive terminal.
The materials set forth in connection with this U.S. patent application describe a card edge connector—see e.g., U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,059,133, 5,672,069, and 6,210,195 which are hereby incorporated by reference.
With the trend of miniaturization of electrical device, space on the mother circuit board for a card edge connector is strictly limited. To reduce overall size of the card edge connector, conductive terminals in the housing are required to be arranged in a compact fashion. The compactly arranged conductive terminals potentially generate considerable amount of heat during signal transmission. Therefore, it is vital to disperse the heat to ambient environment timely. However, in the prior designs, the heat is only given out to the ambient environment primarily via the upwardly facing central slot and, therefore, cannot be dissipated timely and quickly. Accumulation of the heat possibly leads to distortion of the housing and adversely affects performance of the card edge connector, especially for power conductive terminals that conduct large currents.
Therefore, there is a heretofore unaddressed need in the industry to address the aforementioned deficiencies and inadequacies.